Following the Call

Acts 16:1-15

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

1 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. 4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

The Macedonian Call

6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Lydia Baptized at Philippi

11 Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. 14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." So she persuaded us.

Paul the apostle followed the call of God in Christ to go to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8) with the message of reconciling hope of forgiveness of sin and redemption in Him.  When he and Silas arrived at Lystra, he took on Timothy for the work as well.  This faithful man of a godly spiritual lineage (2 Timothy 1:5) had a non-Jewish father but had a line through his mother of believing Jewish ancestry.  To alleviate the complaints and prejudice of the Jews they would be ministering to and around, Paul convinced Timothy to be circumcised in the flesh with full knowledge that this act had no significance to God.  They both knew that the true circumcision was the cleansing of the heart’s foreskin of sin and not the body which was symbolic under the Old Covenant.  He did this to become all things to all men (1 Corinthians 9:22) that they might win some to Christ by giving them no excuse to stop listening because of this lack of Jewish culture and religious identity.  This party of three then gave the decree to all the churches they visited as defined by the elders of the head church in Jerusalem as they had by letter previously concerning the issue of circumcision and other ceremonial laws no longer applicable; they had kept to the essentials of the faith to teach and urge others to abide by in obedience to God and not the church or man according to the council which used exegetical interpretation of the scriptures to set these decrees forth in writing and teaching as Paul and company were doing.  They allowed scripture to set doctrine and taught the same as they went so as not to put the authority on the church but on God’s word which established and sets the enforcement of the word of God as His instrument of grace and knowledge for godly living among His sheep in that pasture.  When this faithful band of brothers were going through Galatia, God’s Spirit acted to keep them from traveling into Asia to bring the words of life there.  He had other plans and that area was not ready for Him, so the Spirit of God called them elsewhere just as He then kept them from going to Bithynia from Mysia.  He led them to Troas in Asia Minor nearby instead where Paul was called in a vision at night, likely a waking dream, to go into Macedonia to preach the gospel.  He responded to the call by God’s Spirit to preach the gospel words of life there and was not disobedient to the heavenly vision (Isaiah 30:21, 50:5, 7, Acts 26:19-20).  Traveling to Philippi in Macedonia, they stayed a while until going down to the river where people regularly prayed.  There they met among the women they spoke with a worshiper of the Hebrew God called Lydia who was a prosperous businesswoman.  She heard the fulfillment of her Jewish faith in Christ Jesus the Messiah and believed to receive Him as her Savior-Lord in response.  Her household had also heard and believed and they all were baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3, Galatians 3:27-28) down by the river.  It is notable that God first had to open their hearts to heed the things spoken by Paul, to not just hear the words of the gospel as a magic formula, but to be given ears to hear and eyes to see by the working of His Spirit to regeneration and eternal life.  He had to draw them to Himself (John 6:44) and give them spiritual vision to remove the blindness of sin and bring them into His marvelous light (Acts 26:18, 1 Peter 2:9)!  This woman of faith and influence then gave the messengers room and board as they continued teaching and preaching the word there in Philippi.  This is a valuable lesson and pattern for all who follow Christ to be faithful to the call and receptive to God’s leading by His Spirit according to His word.